1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with a process for the manufacture of a salt, namely, sodium pantothenate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a prior art process, sodium D or DL-pantothenate was obtained by reacting relatively dry sodium alaninate with L or DL-pantolactone, respectively.
The sodium alaninate for this known process was prepared and dried by a complex circuitous procedure. To obtain the dried sodium alaninate, .beta.-amino-propionitrile was saponified with caustic soda and the resulting sodium alaninate was hydrolyzed to give .beta.-alanine. By drying and then reacting the dried .beta.-alanine with sodium methylate, one obtained the desired dry sodium alaninate. The prior art procedure for producing dry sodium alaninate apparently theorized that a dry sodium alaninate suitable for reaction with pantolactone can be obtained only by the above-described roundabout route using .beta.-alanine.
We have discovered a process for producing sodium pantothenate from sodium alaninate which avoids the circuitous prior art procedure for producing dry sodium alaninate via .beta.-alanine.